Fossil Fuel Allies and Conservative Activists Push to Erase Crucial Climate Protection
In a sweeping move, the EPA under Administrator Lee Zeldin has proposed revoking the 2009 Endangerment Finding—a key climate safeguard that empowers the agency to regulate greenhouse gas emissions. This ruling, originally issued during the Obama administration, found that pollutants like carbon dioxide and methane endanger human health and the environment.
Now, a coalition of climate science deniers, fossil fuel lobbyists, and conservative legal activists is working to erase it.
Why the Endangerment Finding Matters
The Endangerment Finding forms the legal foundation for regulating climate pollution under the Clean Air Act. Without it, federal agencies lose their authority to limit emissions from cars, power plants, and industries. Ending it could undo decades of climate progress and disrupt rules that cut pollution across the U.S. economy.
Who’s Behind the Rollback
Fossil Fuel Lobbyists
Groups like the American Petroleum Institute (API) have fought this regulation from the start. API falsely claims carbon dioxide isn’t a pollutant. Instead, they frame it as harmless “plant food.” Other industry-friendly think tanks—like the Competitive Enterprise Institute and Heartland Institute—repeat this message, downplaying the risks of global warming.
Climate Deniers go for Conservative Legal Operatives
Activists like Steve Milloy, a longtime tobacco and oil lobbyist, and H. Sterling Burnett of the Heartland Institute, have launched public campaigns calling climate science a hoax. They’re now closely aligned with Project 2025—a far-right policy roadmap that proposes eliminating the Endangerment Finding entirely.
Trump-Era Veterans
Many architects of this rollback served in the first Trump administration. They include Jeff Clark, who led the DOJ’s environment division, and David Schnare, an ex-EPA lawyer known for climate misinformation. Both now support efforts to strip the EPA’s power.
Climate Deniers with Project 2025: The Blueprint for Deregulation
The rollback isn’t random. It follows Project 2025, a transition plan led by the conservative Heritage Foundation. This blueprint outlines how to remake the federal government under a future Trump administration. It targets environmental protections, aiming to dismantle the EPA, cancel the Endangerment Finding, and gut other climate laws.
The plan would reclassify climate science as “subjective,” removing it from policy decisions.
Scientists and States Push Back
The scientific community warns that revoking the Endangerment Finding contradicts decades of evidence. Greenhouse gases trap heat. They raise temperatures, worsen storms, and endanger public health. The American Meteorological Society, NASA, and even the Pentagon have confirmed the risks.
Meanwhile, states like California, New York, and Massachusetts have vowed to challenge the repeal in court. They argue it violates the Clean Air Act and undermines state efforts to fight climate change.
What’s Next
The EPA will hold a 45-day public comment period. After that, the agency could finalize the repeal before the end of the year. Legal challenges are already in motion.
If successful, this repeal could erase climate rules covering:
Vehicle emissions Power plant pollution Methane leaks from oil and gas wells
Conclusion: High Stakes for the Planet
The attempt to kill the Endangerment Finding is more than a bureaucratic move. It’s a full-scale assault on U.S. climate policy, backed by fossil fuel money and anti-science rhetoric.
Public input will be critical in the coming weeks. So will the courts. If the rollback succeeds, the U.S. may lose its most important legal tool for tackling the climate crisis.
Sources:
DeSmog Article (July 30, 2025)
The Guardian: Trump’s EPA Targets Climate Regulations
